Gardenia Girls (tag Topaz) on Magical Arts Room and Sports

Sylvia Mordue

August 21, 2020 8:50 PM

Gardenia Girls (tag Topaz) by Sylvia Mordue

Sylvia made her way to the MARS water room, a picnic basket slung over her arm. It was the first Sunday of the month, which meant it was time for a Gardenia Girls get-together. She had mastered the art of packing a picnic basket with all the necessary supplies by now, as really the MARS rooms couldn’t be outdone in terms of scenery and privacy.

She entered to find a picturesque garden with a neatly appointed pergola in delicate white-painted wrought iron. Ornamental gardenia trees stood in pots, flanking each of its four entrances, and around it, neatly boxed flower beds bloomed with roses in delicate shades of pink and cream. A stream ran through the back of the scene, a necessary nod to the room’s theme.

Sylvia began setting out everyone’s drink preferences on the table, which was already set with fine china. She did her best to play hostess well, accommodating their various preferences. There was tea for Katerina, coffee for anyone old enough and sophisticated enough to appreciate it, and plenty of cream and sugar to make that a more palatable task. Nate seemed able to swig back coffee, somewhat diluted with milk, as if it was either water or an actively pleasant experience but… well, he was a man, and preparing for the business world, wherein that was probably an essential skill. Sylvia would be expected to delicately sip pleasantly sweetened beverages, and that she could do, though she also had juice for anyone who still didn’t care for it. There was also a platter of small savouries and cakes - small enough to make the calorie count minimal whilst meeting the requirements of a good hostess to provide something pleasant to her guests.

She had arrived a little earlier than the appointed meeting time, even accounting for the set up she had to do, as she had asked Topaz to come early too for a little chat. She made sure to get everything in place before the other girl was likely to arrive, so that the room was presentable, so that she appeared capable and unflustered (important qualities in a leader) and so that the younger girl was not given the incorrect impression that Sylvia expected her to put work into setting up the meeting. The table was all neatly set when the door opened.

“Hello,” Sylvia smiled. “Thank you for coming to join me. I feel like you and I share a common problem, and I thought it might be useful to work out how we can assist each other. It’s not very nice, is it, being overlooked by the staff?” she stated.

13 Sylvia Mordue Gardenia Girls (tag Topaz) 1413 1 5

Topaz Brockert

August 29, 2020 4:40 PM

Yes? by Topaz Brockert

CW-Homophobia/Straight privilege

Even as late as it was in the term, Topaz still couldn't believe she had lost prefect to Snotti-Ness. As in, she wasn't just super angry about it, she legitimately didn't understand why! Topaz was absolutely the better choice, not just because she was totally the ideal prefect but because just about anyone was a better option than Snotti-Ness was, including her toddler cousins-as in right now, while they were toddlers, they'd be better choices-and her taxidermied animals.

And it wasn't as if anyone on staff saw her the way her siblings and cousins did as the Aladren had cultivated an image of being this brilliant student who displayed intense intellectual curiosity rather than the psychopath people like Emerald and Allegra thought she was while Snotti-Ness had never really held her abrasive judgemental tendencies back. True, Topaz didn't waste time with activities that were beneath her, like Quidditch, but she had attended Art Club, because taxidermy was art.

The fifth year had a few theories though. One was an anti-nepotism theory, that they didn't give it to her because her grandfather was Headmaster and they were trying not to look like they were practicing nepotism. Except that Allegra -and Emerald-had gotten prefect and not because they were the only options.

Topaz's other theory was that they were favoring gay people. The Brooding-Hawthornes obviously were going to do this for obvious reasons and Dorian Montoir had beaten Ruby for prefect. It surprised the Aladren that others were too. Not Grandfather of course, who...probably really did go with nepotism but everyone else was so hung up on being politically correct and sanctimonious and Snotti-Ness was nothing if not the latter. Even though the other fifth year was rather rude to others like she had been to Topaz since the very beginning even before Topaz had even done anything that Snotti-Ness could possibly legitimately dislike her for, looking down her nose at Topaz for being a proper pureblood-as if that could be helped- that did taxidermy. Because apparently animal rights were more important than the rights of people like Topaz or girls who were well, girly like Ruby or Esme. Topaz might have had little use for girls like her older sister-and still wasn't able to fathom how a team including Ruby, Jasmine Delachene and Ellie Alperton, who some of the girliest girls out there had beaten her team during the Challenges considering that only one of the Challenges even remotely played to their strengths while the fifth year had two Quidditch players even though Jeremy was a twit-she was never pretending to be this bastion of tolerance.

This year's fair activity had just proven the sanctimonious, bleeding heart track the school was going down through no fault of Grandfather's. A charity fair! Topaz had no desire whatsoever to help people really, unless it was helping them by improving their intellectual knowledge. Some of the options people were promoting made her downright nauseous, like a Muggle Cultural Center, which as far the Aladren was concerned didn't really do much to help anyone. While that was a plus in her book, in no way should an inferior culture be promoted! And Ruby was doing something about allergies and asthma, because of poor poor Miles and to a lesser extent, poor poor Owen and how sad and tough their lives were because of their afflictions. Oh, puke.

And there was a gay charity too. Because of course there was. Topaz really didn't think those people needed help because obviously they were getting prefect over more deserving candidates. Not that she was certain Ruby was more deserving than Dorian, they both weren't great but Topaz was certainly the more deserving one over Snotti-Ness!

Not only that but now the Aladren was obligated to participate because Sylvia was doing a charity too. Fortunately, the sixth year had picked preserving historical buildings which was great because Topaz could participate-which would look better when it came time to pick the Head Girl candidates-without actually having to help people .

Now Sylvia wanted to talk to the Aladren before their group got together as a whole. Topaz entered the room to find the older girl waiting for her. "Hello." She greeted the sixth year, returning the smile with the one she'd mastered over the years. The polite, pleasant one that masked how she often felt, even though Sylvia was on a short list of people the Aladren didn't mind that much. It was sort of like how Grandfather had to master not scowling. Topaz felt she was doing a better job than he was.

It became more natural when Sylvia brought up her reason why the fifth year had been invited to come early. "It is not." She agreed. Okay, so the Crotalus had been beaten by someone less offensive than Topaz had but she still completely got why Sylvia was bothered by it.

She had to admit she was curious as to how they could help each other rectify this problem. Topaz had spent the year doing her best to torture both Snotti-Ness and Allegra-more so than usual-with conveniently placed jinxes and in the case of her roommate, taxidermy tools that looked like accidents. Like the Aladren would "misplace" them and when they turned up in places where Snotti-Ness could potentially get hurt, Topaz would pretend that she had no idea whatsoever how that got there.

What she really wanted though, was to expose the other Aladren for what she was, a self-righteous, judgemental hypocrite. It wouldn't change who was prefect, but it would help things when it came time for Head Girl. Even if the staff placed Snotti-Ness on the ballot, if the whole school-or at least those who got to vote-was turned against the judgemental little cow, then she wouldn't get that too!

Of course, with Sylvia, the alternative would be Caitlin again whom Topaz didn't really want to ruin because with Emerald being married to Winston, it would make the fifth year's life more difficult. Plus, Sylvia didn't need to worry about being on the Head Girl ballot because there were only two girls in their class.

"So what should we do?" She really really really hoped Sylvia wasn't going to suggest they go make out where people could see them-or make out period-so people would think they were therefore gay and more worthy of positions of power. "I mean, if it's about Head Girl, you're going to be on the ballot no matter what, as they can't just hand it to Caitlin, so really you have to impress those voting by letting them know all your good qualities." In Topaz's case, she had to try so much harder even though she really shouldn't have to. The Aladren wanted to believe that the idea that any of her competitors-given who they were- could beat her was ridiculous but prefect had proven her wrong which was so not a pleasant feeling"I have to show people other than my grandfather that I deserve to be on it at all." And that Snotti-Ness didn't. "I mean, I obviously do, but they have to get that."

"Joining the Charity Fair was a good idea." Topaz continued. Sucking up seemed to be the way to deal with people like Sylvia. "People seem to think school involvement is important." Other than being gay that was the only thing Snotti-Ness could have had on her.

11 Topaz Brockert Yes? 1427 0 5

Sylvia Mordue

August 31, 2020 7:07 AM

Would you like some help? by Sylvia Mordue

“Thank you. I do hope it makes a good impression,” Sylvia smiled, when Topaz complimented her on running a booth. Would that, on its own have been enough, she wondered? It showed her as more involved and more generous than Caitlin. She would have to make sure that everyone knew she was doing it ahead of the election, even though the fair would be after. Still, she had offered mutual advantage, and so she had to put that on the table.

“I don’t think that will be an issue,” Sylvia soothed as Topaz complained that her problem would be getting on the ballot at all, “Merlin alone knows how they’re deciding prefects,” she added, with a role of her eyes at the fact that a proper young lady with all the right connections such as Topaz had been passed over, “But for the head student vote, they really do seem to trust the general population,” she added, arching her eyebrows. There was a lot to be said about whether or not that was a good idea, but it did seem to be the way of things.

“Like you said, what we need is everyone else to back us when that happens. We’re always at a disadvantage in that respect. People talk about all these other disadvantages in life, like we need to vote for this person or that person because they’ve been a victim the whole time but when we try to point out our own struggles, we get told they don’t count, or don’t exist!” she huffed, “And how does being a victim make them a suitable candidate? Anyway,” she waved away this point, irritating though it was, it was not really something she could do that much about, “Statistically, things are never on our side. Either there aren’t that many people like us, which makes it difficult to win the votes, or there’s more than one and it splits it

“When it gets to your turn, I’m sure all the proper girls would agree that you or Allegra would be better than certain other options,” she stated, with a curl of her lip, “But if they don’t agree about which of you they’ll all back, the whole thing falls apart, and someone less deserving gets a shot. That’s part of why I founded the Gardenia Girls, you know. I thought we deserved a place where being ourselves wasn’t under constant attack. It also means we can present a collected front - we can agree who is more deserving and make sure that candidate gets the votes.

“It’s easy enough to have a mini vote amongst ourselves on the boys, and then agree that everyone backs the most viable candidate in any elections contested against non-Purebloods. For the girls, it should naturally be whoever is leading the club,” she stated, clearly and calmly, aware that Topaz was not stupid and was easily able to see what she wanted. It was an odd position to be in, but she thought that the most direct approach would be the best one here - that and offering mutual advantage, “That’s where you and I can help each other out. You can help me set that as the precedent, and then I can pass the mantle onto you. It might go via a sixth year, but I can appoint a new club president and a new deputy when I leave. And then you’d be in the position to pass that onto whoever you felt was most deserving - a clear symbol of who everyone should unite behind,” she invited with a smile.

13 Sylvia Mordue Would you like some help? 1413 0 5

Topaz Brockert

September 10, 2020 2:31 PM

I'm certainly not going to turn it down. by Topaz Brockert

"You're welcome." Honestly, neither Sylvia nor Caitlin made a terrible impression but having a charity booth had to look good as far as school involvement went. Of course, the other sixth year was also part of Ruby's booth so she had two to Sylvia's one, but Sylvia was heading hers so Topaz really didn't know how that was going to work. Not to mention that Sylvia's booth was about historical buildings which the Aladren was unsure how many people were going to see as really caring about others.

And, again, Sylvia was going to be on the ballot. There was no question about that. Even if a choice was obvious as to who would or should get something, they would still go through the motions of having an election. And if there were only two candidates, that meant both would be options.

Therefore the people Sylvia had to appeal to where her own yearmates and Topaz's. And there were a lot of fifth years who were not going to think the Crotalus was a good choice. Then again, those same people were unlikely to be all that impressed by Caitlin either. It was actually kind of funny to think of her roommate having to choose between two pureblood princesses considering how Snotti-Ness felt about purebloods and anyone who was even remotely girly!

And Clown Lips just did whatever Snotti-Ness told her to do. Thought how the other fifth year wanted her to think. The Pecari was that much of syncophant. It was creepy and bizarre and just proved what a complete moron she was. Topaz half wondered if Snotti-Ness had Imperiused her but she didn't think her roommate was quite capable of Unforgivables. They were supposed to be extremely hard. That Clown Lips was a total idiot was a better guess.

Anyway, they definitely were not the sort who were going to be impressed by a historical building charity.

Sylvia seemed to think Topaz would be on the ballot. "Thank you, I should certainly hope so." Ideally, the ballot should be herself and Katerina, maybe Allegra. Snotti-Ness and Clown Lips so obviously did not deserve to be on it. She definitely wasn't sure why they were prefects. At the this point, Topaz rather wanted to believe they'd been picked out of a hat because there was no other understandable explanation aside from maybe school involvement as she thought Clown Lips was in a ridiculous amount of activities.

Which honestly, Topaz really didn't think participation in clubs should matter. Why should she be penalized for not wanting to be involved in things that were beneath her? That wasn't fair.

"I know." The fifth year responded to Sylvia's next point. " It's not even like they want to be treated equal, they want to be treated better than us!" This was completely unfathomable. And hypocritical because they said they wanted to be equal when they wanted to rule and treated people like Topaz and Sylvia as if they were lesser and horrible people. Not that the Aladren wasn't somewhat used to that given how people like Emerald and Esme thought she was evil incarnate.

" And some of these people aren't even victims!" The fifth year knew what a victim was, because she victimized people all the time! So, obviously, Allegra was totally one. And she guessed her roommate was too in that sense. But nobody knew that and anyway, it definitey did not make them deserving. Whether or not her cousin was more deserving than Julius Astley was up for debate but Allegra did not deserve to be prefect when Topaz wasn't and Snotti-Ness wouldn't deserve it no matter who she was up against. "But they sure like to say they are while being rude and nasty towards people like us."

It was interesting how Sylvia thought it would be between her and Allegra among those who were proper. First off, she completely dismissed Katerina as a viable option. Secondly, how could there be any contest between Topaz and her cousin? Yes, the Crotalus was prefect and she wasn't, but then Allegra hadn't been up against her for that, she'd been up agaisnt Julius. Surely, Topaz could beat her cousin. In fact, she could completely get Allegra to say they should vote for Topaz because the Aladren would make her life completely miserable if she didn't-and Allegra knew that. She knew that very well .

"I agree." The fifth year replied because, why not? Sylvia was their leader, she had come up with the group. And it sounded like she wanted to have Topaz be their next leader. Which was what the Aladren had always assumed would happen anyway. She was the best qualified to do so. "And I'm happy to help in any way I can." If it meant she got what she wanted, she'd do it.

"The problem is that there seem to be less of us and more of them ." Topaz stated, rolling her eyes. "Unless we can get them to divide votes." The Aladren was going to be none too pleased if she didn't get Head Girl but if it went to her roommate....well, that couldn't happen could it? Surely other students had to see how rude and aggressive Snotti-Ness was.

11 Topaz Brockert I'm certainly not going to turn it down. 1427 0 5